Griffith In Asia

The Pacific Island nations are stepping up to offer assistance to Australia in the midst of the bushfire crisis. Vanuatu has offered almost a quarter of a million dollars to the Rural Fire Service, while an appeal fund has been set up in Papua New Guinea, with the government there also offering to send a thousand military personnel and fire fighters. Private enterprise in Vanuatu, PNG, and also Fiji, are getting involved in fundraising too, even though in Fiji's case they are already dealing with the aftermath of Cyclone Sarai that hit parts of the country just last week. And indeed at this time of the year, in the midst of cyclone season, it is often the disaster prone island countries with small economies that turn to Australia for help. However this time the roles have been reversed, and Pacific analyst, Tess Newton Cain, from the Griffith Asia Institute, says that's despite relations between Australia and the islands being rather frosty in recent times, and particularly over climate change.